Spiral
by fearishere
Summary: Two weeks ago, Keiton Grundfast's wife died, two weeks later, the dead begin to rise. Now, alone in a house with a group of people; the survivors discover the only thing more dangerous than the Living Dead, are each other.
1. Report

Beep!

Beep!

Beep!

I lifted my hand and shut my alarm clock, the annoying beeping stopped. I yawned and stood up, not bothering to fix my blanket, which was hanging off my small bed. I walked over to the bathroom and turned on the shower, when it was hot enough I stepped in. I didn't bother to clean myself up, I couldn't, I could barely do anything...

Because two weeks ago my wife died, we were in a car accident, riding down a busy highway, when the car in front of us cut us off in an attempt to get wherever it was the driver was going. Our car hit their car and, their car swerved and we slammed into it's side. I don't know how it happened exactly.

But she's gone.

The funeral was yesterday. I couldn't bare to go, so I didn't.

I realized I was done with the shower and turned it off, I got dressed and walked downstairs to my living room. I turned on the television, news twelve was the first thing that came up.

"So Denise what else is going on in Afghanistan?" the male reporter, Robert said.

"Well it seems we're getting some bizarre reports from over there, you ready?" Denise asked.

Robert nodded, flashing a smile.

"Well, yesterday afternoon the studio received a video tape from an anonymous source that showed a firefight happening, but as Taliban soldiers were killed, something extremely bizarre happened" Denise explained.

"And what was that?" Robert asked.

"Well We'll show you all the tape so you could see it for yourselves, be aware that this video tape includes graphic violence, children should not be in the area" Denise said.

I yawned, not that interested, too busy, thinking about my wife.

_Elizabeth_

The video started, it seemed to have been taken by a camera attached to a soldiers head, it seemed American soldiers were fighting off a group of Middle-Eastern people in a small sandy town the video shot one of the Taliban soldiers in the chest a few times, killing him. But a few moments later, something truly bizarre happened.

The dead Taliban soldier, lifted itself up from the ground, and rose to it's feet. It turned around and looked at the soldier that was taking the video, you could see the bloody wounds on the soldiers chest from where he had been shot.

"What the hell?' the soldier taking the video asked, he looked to his allies, they were staring at the "dead" soldier aswell. Then the "dead" soldier started walking fast towards the soldier taking the video. A few shots were fired and then the video ended. I stared at the television screen. One word immediately came to my mind.

_Hoax_

The show switched back to Robert and Denise, who began talking about the video. I shook my head and turned the television off. I had more important things to think about, like what exactly I was going to do today.

Sit and mourn. The same thing I've been doing for the past two weeks. Then the phone rang. I looked towards it. I got up and picked it up.

"Hello?"


	2. Our weakest moments

"Hello, is this Keiton Grundfast?" a voice responded.

"This is him, may I ask who I am speaking to?" I asked. I didn't recognize the voice. It was a woman.

"Keiton, you don't know me, but I know you, and I think it's time we meet" the woman said.

"Uh, hold on a second, who are you?" I asked, but the woman ignored the question and kept on talking.

"I need you to meet me at Beekmans Diner, the one about a mile from your house, do you know the place?" the woman asked me.

"Yes, I know where it is but why do you need to speak to me?" I asked. There was silence on her end.

"Hello?" I asked, after a few seconds.

"We need to meet, because I have reason to believe the death of your wife was no accident"

I was shocked into silence. The only thought going through my head was, _What?_

Suddenly, a wave of anger surfaced from me.

"Okay lady, I don't know who the hell you think you are, or why you're calling me but-"

"My name is Alicia Reynolds, if you would come meet me I would be happy to explain everything to you" she said in her calm, cool voice.

"No, I'm not meeting you anywhere, and if you call me again, I'm calling the cops!!" I screamed into the phone. I hung up and slammed the phone down into the receiver.

I stood there for a couple of seconds, then I turned and stumbled into my living room. I sat down on my couch and put my head in my hands. I sat there, like that, for a while. Then I rested back against the couch and sat in silence. I didn't want to think about what just happened. So I grabbed the remote control, and turned on the Television.

I flipped through the channels. Trying to find something that was mildly interesting. After a minutes or so I settled on a baseball game. I watched it, for awhile; not really paying attention to it. I let my mind wander. And soon my thoughts turned to the one thing I was hoping to avoid thinking about.

Elizabeth. My girl. The girl I had wanted to spend the rest of my life with. The girl I WAS going to spend the rest of my life with. And now it was all gone. Taken away from me. Had it only been...two weeks ago?

"Ugh" I said out loud. Thinking about these things only made things seem...more bleak. I stood up, walked to my coat rack, and put on a black leather jacket. I needed to go for a walk, clear my head.

I stepped out the door and was immediately welcomed with silence. I found that odd, since usually, you would see the occasional jogger, someone walking their dog, or even the occasional teenagers in love, holding hands and kissing. But today, there was none of that.

It was also cloudy. The entire sky was gray. Casting a gloomy shadow upon the ground.

I lived in rural Pennsylvania. So there weren't really any houses next to mine. I walked down my driveway and began to walk down the street. There was a slight breeze, so it was a little cold. I continued walking for a little while, not really caring where I was going, as long as I didn't take any other roads, I wouldn't get lost.

Eventually, I came across a friends house. Her name was Marie Ann. Brown hair, brown eyes like me. She had a kind heart, was always concerned about the well being of other people. Elizabeth and I had gone over her house a few times. We hung out with her and her boyfriend. Then, after Elizabeth...died; she was there, helped me out, came over and helped with the funeral arrangements.

I decided to go up and see if she was home. She lived in a rather tall yellow house that rested on top of a hill. It had a basement, two main floors, and an attic. I walked up the dirt driveway, and up the porch. I approached the door, the wind chimes above me were chiming. I knocked lightly on the door and waited for an answer. After about a minute no one answered, I figured it was because of the wind chimes. I knocked louder.

That was when the man walked out from behind the side of the house. I didn't notice him at first, but when I heard a moan coming from my right, I turned and looked for the source of the noise.

For a few moments I just stood there, taking in the appearance of the man. He wore a green shirt, with regular jeans on. Light brown hair. His face was pale, gray pale. I was about to say hello when I noticed the blood. It drenched the collar of his shirt, and his mouth was covered in it.

"Oh my....are you okay?" I stuttered. I stepped back, almost fell down the porch, regained my balance, and stepped onto the front yard. The man raised an arm out to me and stumbled towards me.

"Hello? Are you okay? Should I call an ambulance?!"

I didn't realize how close he had gotten to me; I tripped and began tumbling down the hill. I hit the street with a thud. I stayed there, on the ground, looking dazed. I looked up and saw the man stumbling down the hill, trying to keep balance. I stood up and moved out of the way as he fell. I backed up onto the dirt driveway. I felt a light sting on my left elbow and looked at it. I had scraped it during my fall and it was bleeding slightly. I turned my attention to the man. He groaned and stood back up. He turned around and began walking towards me. A fast walk. He was gaining on me. I had to decide what to do.

Now, this was the moment where I could have just run. Turned around and hightailed it back to my house. And now, sitting here, thinking about it all, I realize I would probably be dead now if I had done that.

For some reason, I didn't run back to my house. Instead, I turned around and ran up the driveway. I ran up the porch, grabbed the doorknob and yanked hard. It was locked. I turned around, the man was stumbling up the driveway, coming towards me.

Then I remembered, there was a back door behind the house, Elizabeth and I, as well as Marie and her boyfriend had used to sit out on the back porch and watched the sunset sometimes. Behind us had been their back door.

I turned around, jumped down the porch, and ran around the side of the house. The sound of the wind chimes followed me. I ran around to the back, looked in the direction of the backdoor. It was open!

_Thank you_, was the only thought in my head at that moment, although I wasn't sure who I was thanking. Then, as I began to run towards the opened door, a man stumbled out. He was short, in a suit with a tie, had black pants on, as well as black shoes, he also had blonde hair. There was blood all over the front of his shirt. And there was blood on his mouth too, just like the other guy.

Speaking of the other guy, he had walked around the side of the house and was coming towards me. Hands outstretched, walking as fast as he seemed he could.

"What the hell is wrong with you people?!" I shouted at them. The blonde man in the tie was walking rather slowly, hands at his sides, mouth slightly open. He moaned.

That's when I looked into his eyes, and realized there was something _really _wrong with these people. His eyes were gray, and emotionless. It was like he wasn't even really looking at me, just following my sound.

Another man came walking up behind this short man. This man was rather tall, had black hair, a long, thick, neck, he was wearing a red turtleneck. Mouth, as with the others, covered in blood. I stepped back in shock, when I finally realized who this man was.

Marie Ann's boyfriend.

"Robert?! What the hell is going on here?! What are you doing? Where's Marie?!" I asked, the slew of questions just flowing out of my mouth.

He groaned in response. He tried to lift his arms but seemed to be stopped by the short mans back directly in front of him. All three men were coming towards me now, faster than I was backing up. My eyes widened and I screamed:

"MARIE!!!"

No response. Her car had been in the driveway, so she was home. But what had happened to her?

I had no time to dwell on these thoughts as the man in the green shirt grabbed me and lunged forward. I pushed at him but he held onto me. We twisted and turned, and I noticed the other two men getting closer to us.

"Let go!!" I screamed. "Let go! Let GO!!"

He was bringing his mouth down to my shoulder, I twisted him away from it. Was he trying to _bite _me?!

"What the fuck-"

I turned us away from the other two men, and pushed myself forward. We both fell onto the ground. I fell on top of him. For a moment he let go, so I used this moment to stand back up. I turned; the other two were walking towards us. I ran around them and to the opened back door. I flew up the porch, rushed inside the door, and slammed it closed.

For a few seconds I stood there, resting against the door. I tried to catch my breath. I took a deep breath and locked the door. I turned and closed my eyes. After a few moments of resting, I opened them and was about to call Marie's name when I realized staying quiet was probably in my best interests. If more of those...people, were in here, then I needed to stay quiet.

Which reminded me, I needed something to defend myself with. I looked around and realized I was in the kitchen, on the right, beside the sink, was a knife rack. I grabbed a large kitchen knife and slowly made my way into the living room.

What greeted me there was probably the most horrifying sight that day. The room was a mess, magazines all over the floor, chairs flipped over, pillows hanging from the couch.

And in the middle of the room was Marie.

Or rather, what was left of her.

For a moment I didn't see it, probably my brains' way of trying to deal with seeing something it has never experienced before. Then I realized, her face was a bloody mess. Her skin was gone, blood was everywhere, dripping past her face and onto the ground. Her nose was gone, pretty much. Her face had been damaged so much that I could begin to see her skull.

I could feel the bile rising in my throat. I turned, fell to the floor, and began to gag. I tried to hold it in, knowing that vomiting all over the floor wasn't going to help the situation at all. I took a few deep breaths, and forced the bile back down.

"Okay...oh God...what the hell is happening?" I whispered. After a few more seconds I stood up, slowly turned around, but did not look at Mary, I kept my head up.

"Is anyone here?" I called out weakly.

Then, I saw something move out of the bottom of my vision. On impulse I looked down and saw Marie slowly sitting up.

"Oh my..." I stumbled backwards and dropped the knife. She looked at me. I don't know how, but she did. I stared at her, eyes wide. Ready to throw up again. She stood up; after some effort, and began walking towards me.

That was my first hint that this was no ordinary situation.


	3. Our deepest thoughts

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"Marie? What's....what's wrong?" I managed to say weakly as the disfigured and bloody Marie continued to walk towards me. I stepped back and hit the door I had entered through. I was trapped. I looked down on the floor and saw the knife I had dropped, a few feet away from me. I bent down and quickly picked it up.

Marie continued towards me, she had passed the living room and was now a few feet away from me. I held the knife out towards her.

"Marie stop! Just listen to me goddammit!!" I screamed. She reached out a hand towards me. Then, she reached me. She grabbed onto me and brought her head down towards my shoulder, as if to bite me. I screamed and shoved, but she kept a firm grip. I managed to twist around and slam her into the door.

"Rargh!" was the only sound that came from her.

I pushed myself back and broke free from her. I landed on the ground on my back. Marie began to walk towards me, as what just happened hadn't even fazed her.

"Please Marie....don't make me do this" I sobbed. I hadn't even been aware that I was crying.

She growled, bent down, and was about to sink her teeth into my neck when I plunged the knife into her stomach. I stared, wide eyed, as she began to fall towards me.

Only, she wasn't falling, in fact, she seemed very much okay, her mouth was still open and was about two seconds away from reaching my neck. She was bending down to bite me. With a scream I pushed myself back. I saw the knife, the handle sticking out of her white shirt. Which was now covered in blood.

"My God..." I whispered. What was _wrong _with her?! How was this possible?!

I shook my head slowly as she moaned and came towards me. I kicked my right foot outwards. It connected with her left leg and she tumbled down onto her stomach. the knife drove even deeper into her stomach, spreading more blood all over the floor.

I stood up and ran around her. I reached the kitchen and grabbed another knife from the knife rack. I turned around quickly just in time to see her getting up again.

I didn't think about what to do next, instead, I just _did_ it. I ran forward, screaming; I pulled the knife back, and then plunged it deep into the back of her head. Immediately her head whipped back, letting out a long, startled, scream-like sound. Then she fell forward.

I stood there, for a while. Just staring at her body in shock. She didn't move after that. She was dead. Truly dead.

_I just killed Marie_, I thought.

"No" I whispered. I just kept saying that over and over again. Like a chant.

_It was self defense, _A voice from deep inside of me spoke. _You had to do it._

"Yes, yes that's right, I had to do it, she was going to..."

What _had_ she been trying to do? What if she hadn't been trying to hurt me? What if she was so horribly disfigured by those men that she couldn't speak?! What is she was just trying to get me to help her?!

No. No, that couldn't be right. Why would she try to bite me then?

_You saw her face, she was dead long before you got here, _the voice spoke again.

I shook my head. I needed to do something instead of stand here like an idiot. I needed to call someone; the Police would know what to do. I reached into my pocket for my cell phone, and then remembered I had left it at home.

To my left was the house phone, which happened to be next to the window that overlooked the front yard, as well as the large plain beyond it. I walked over to the phone, picked it up out of it's cradle, and dialed 9-1-1.

Immediately a woman's voice spoke up. "The number you are trying to call cannot be reached, please try again later".

"What?" I said aloud. No, that couldn't be right. 9-1-1 was never busy.

"What the fuck is going on?!" I yelled out in frustration. I slammed the phone down back in it's cradle and turned around. Now what was I going to do?

Suddenly there was a loud bang coming from the door I had entered through. I looked over at it, startled. Those men were still out there, trying to get in. My fist's clenched at the thought of Marie's boyfriend, Robert. Out there, with those other people.

_What did that fucker do to her?,_ I thought. I looked at Marie's body; then looked away, I didn't want to look at it anymore.

I was brought out of my thoughts my another loud bang. Those bastards were definitely beating at the door. Trying to get in. And if they did...

My heart started to speed up, thinking about all the possible things that could happen if they got in here. I could probably fight off one, and even then, it would be hard, but three of them? I wouldn't be winning that one.

I looked out the window again. If I ran, I could probably make it back to my house. But if I did that, they would most definitely see me, and follow me, and then I would be in the exact same situation I'm in now.

No. I couldn't go home. I needed to get to where other people were. If I ran a little farther down the road I would be able to get to the nearest town. Other people would surely be there. Yes, that would work.

Just as I had set my mind on leaving, something out the window caught my eye. Beyond the road in front of the house, on the grassy plain that eventually led into the forest, two figures were walking towards the house. I squinted to see them better. They were moving in odd angles. One of them, I managed to make out was a woman, with blonde, curly hair. She was wearing some kind of apron. Every time she moved her right shoulder would swing back. Kind of like as if she was limping. The other guy, was wearing a brown shirt with jeans, both of his hands were placed firmly at his sides and his walk seemed almost like a waddle; as if he were a Penguin.

At first glance, there seemed to be nothing wrong with these people, but if you really looked at them, you could see the problems. No emotion on their faces, eyes wide. Walking at odd angles...

Just like the men outside.

I backed up slowly. They were still banging on the kitchen door. But my attention was focused solely on the two people walking towards the house.

What in God's name was wrong with people today? And why did they all seem to be coming here?

I closed the blinds on the window, so no one outside would be able to see inside. I turned around weakly, numb in shock. I regretfully looked at Marie's body. I needed to cover her up. I looked to my left and saw the stairs. I could cover her up with sheets from the bedroom upstairs.

I quickly hurried upstairs, opened the first door on the right and walked into the bedroom. Everything in the room seemed normal. Everything to suggest that Marie and Robert had woken up normally today, gotten out of there bed, ate breakfast, and then...

And then for some reason, Robert had gone crazy and mutilated Marie. Along with two other men.

I shook my head, I couldn't let my mind wander like this. If I was going to get through this alive, then I needed to concentrate on surviving. I quickly grabbed the bed sheet; and dragged it downstairs. I carefully lay it over Marie's body.

"Goodbye Marie...you...you were a good friend" I said. Tears welled up in my eyes, but I wiped them away. I walked over to the window overlooking the front yard by the phone again and peered out of the blinds. The two people who had been walking towards the house had already reached the road and were crossing the street. I watched until they began to lope up the driveway.

I closed my eyes and breathed in deeply. They were coming. They were going to surround the house, use rocks to smash the windows open, break in, and kill me. They were going to kill me!!

"Oh God!" I moaned weakly. I fell onto my knees and dry heaved. Again, and again, and again. Behind me, the banging on the kitchen door continued.

_You need to stop thinking about the "What ifs",_ the voice inside of me spoke.

"I don't know what to do..." I said weakly.

_Then I'll tell you, if those people are going to try and break in, and we both know they are, then you need to do something about that._

"What?!" I asked, frustrated with myself.

_You need to get up off the floor, and barricade yourself inside. You're not running; you're staying right here._


End file.
